I’ve been running for several years now and to be honest I’ve been perfectly content to go out for a run and just be satisfied that I accomplished the task and often give little regard to my actual performance.

My very generous & thoughtful sister gave me a Baby-G (a device worn on the wrist to measure distance and speed). I find that the days I wear this device my performance significantly increases. I become more aware of my pace and the distance I run. I feel more accomplished (or disappointed) at the end of the run because I am able to measure my performance.

The same runs true in the issues of life. If there is no source for measurement we may be content to go about the business of our day, finishing the task at hand with no regard to our performance. However, if we measure our progress as we go we tend to strive for a better performance and we tend to be more productive.

Do you have a resource for measuring your daily walk? I sure do! The Bible is my most valued tool. I can compare my daily activities to what the Bible teaches.

For example: I can measure my love for others based on the description of love found in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8a.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails…

When I find myself tempted to be impatient or rude to my spouse, sibling, friend, or co-worker I can say to myself: “I choose to respond with patience because love is patient and love is not rude.”

What is your source for measurement?

 

“Woman Hand Measure By A Cartridge Meter Isolated On White Backgr” by num_skyman/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Copyright©2014, Gloria Stucky

Spring cleaning has hit hard at the Stucky house.  We cleaned out the basement last week and this week we conquered the attic.  I see window cleaning in our near future.  In our cleaning frenzy I found a beautiful pot that has a crack in the bottom.  I thought about tossing it in the trash but it’s such an attractive piece.  Does the crack make it worthless? 

I can relate since I certainly have a few cracks of my own.  Do those cracks disqualify me or discredit the less flawed areas of my life?

Paul specifically prayed for the Christians in Philippi to be “sincere and without offense till the day of Christ.”  (Philippians 1:10) The word sincere means genuine.  One commentator suggests “sincere” may have originally meant “tested by sunlight.”  In the ancient world, pottery makers would fill cracks in flawed pottery with wax then glaze and paint the entire vessel making it difficult to judge the quality of the piece.  Upon purchase, to avoid being defrauded, the only way to know if the pot was inferior was to hold it up to the sunlight.

I recently had a “sunlight” exposure and sure enough my cracks were revealed. 

We can all strive to cover our cracks and make a pretty outward appearance, but once exposed to the sunlight they become obvious. 

When the sunlight exposes our sin – instead of covering it with outward appearances – we can go to the heart of the matter.   There is a Potter and He is in the business of fixing cracked pots.

⁸ Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.

Isaiah 64:8 (NIV)

Rather than striving to hide our flaws, let us expose them to the sunlight and submit to the hand of the Potter!

 

“Making Pottery” by Photokanok/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Copyright©2014, Gloria Stucky